Since the early 90s, The Chemical Brothers – Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons – have continuously pushed the boundaries of digital music. At a time when dance music was the protect of golf equipment, the duo embraced hip-hop, psychedelia, jazz, and indie for a sound initially labeled as Big Beat and which grew to become richer and extra eclectic with every album. The Chemical Brothers have known as upon a powerful vary of collaborators through the years for his or her songs, from Oasis’ Noel Gallagher to Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, racking up hit singles alongside the way in which.
Listen to the perfect Chemical Brothers songs now.
20. Song To The Siren (Exit Planet Dust, 1995)
First launched in 1992 below their unique title, The Dust Brothers, the thumping “Song To The Siren” was the duo’s first single. Tom and Ed began DJing collectively whereas at college in Manchester, impressed by heavy hip-hop beats and the power of home music. They quickly grew annoyed on the lack of tunes that match the remit, so made their very own. “Song To The Siren” was recorded at house and initially launched on a white label funded by a £300 mortgage from a pal. It was out of step with developments in dance music and initially struggled for publicity till DJ Andrew Weatherall acknowledged its uncooked energy and launched it on his Junior Boy’s Own label. The relaxation is historical past.
19. MAH (No Geography, 2019)
The Chemical Brothers’ ninth album noticed the duo returning to their roots with a sample-heavy set written on analogue gear – the pair arrange a “1997 corner” within the studio in a bid to seize the power of their early releases. “MAH” was proof that they’d succeeded. The title comes from a pattern of “Mad As Hell,” a 1977 disco tune by El Coco that in flip was impressed by William Holden’s electrifying rant from the 1976 film Network (“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore”). Here, its righteous fury is a kicking-off level for a blistering, funk-fuelled raver that was a spotlight of a powerful comeback album.
18. Elektrobank (Dig Your Own Hole, 1997)
Their second album, 1997’s Dig Your Own Hole, noticed the Chemical Brothers increasing the parameters of what dance music may do. With an introduction taken from a tape of DJ Kool Herc and a sampled hook from “This That Shit” by Keith Murray set to clattering beats and robo-funk, “Elektrobank” was their greatest shout-out to hip-hop but. It impressed considered one of director Spike Jonze’s best music movies, that includes a hypnotic rhythmic gymnastics efficiency from fellow director Sofia Coppola (and the assistance of a stunt double).
17. It Began In Afrika (Come With Us, 2002)
The first taster of their fourth album, Come With Us, was launched as a single in September 2001. Originally virtually 10 minutes lengthy, it’s an unrelenting, four-to-the-floor acid epic with intense bursts of polyrhythmic conga and timbales. The title is repeated all through, courtesy of a booming pattern from Jim Ingram’s “Drumbeat,” additionally sampled on Jungle Brothers’ “Done By The Forces Of Nature.”
16. Music: Response (Surrender, 1999)
The Brothers’ third album, Surrender, burst into life with the funk bass, analog synth prospers, and vocodered vocals of “Music: Response.” A heavy groove holds every thing collectively because the Chemical Brothers take the listener on a thrill journey by way of glitchy digital interludes and pulsing beats. It’s a supremely assured opening tune, their perception within the music’s capacity to fill dancefloors echoed by the repeated pattern from “Make It Hot” by Nicole Wray that includes Missy Elliott – “I got what you want, I got what you need.”
15. Where Do I Begin (Dig Your Own Hole, 1997)
This woozy and deeply hungover-sounding tune exhibits that The Chemical Brothers are as snug soundtracking the morning after as they’re the night time earlier than. Norfolk singer-songwriter Beth Orton first labored with the Chemical Brothers on Exit Planet Dust’s “Alive Again” and would return for “The State We’re In” on Come With Us, although Dig Your Own Hole’s “Where Do I Begin” is our decide of their collaborations. Orton sounds frazzled and regretful over a soothing soundbed of backward guitar loops and stray synth burbles. But her reverie is quickly interrupted by a crashing beat, as if representing the headache to come back.
14. Surface To Air (Push The Button, 2005)
A becoming climax to Push the Button, “Surface To Air” evolves from a pulsing synth line right into a shimmering factor of marvel, lifted skyward by bittersweet guitar and bass strains paying homage to Power, Corruption & Lies-era New Order. It’s a triumphant instance of their capacity to show dancefloors into websites for rapturous communion with the spin of a disc.
13. Escape Velocity (Further, 2010)
Another masterclass in blissed-out pleasure, “Escape Velocity” nods to the tricksy arpeggio synth sample of The Who’s traditional “Baba O’Riley” earlier than taking a left-turn into darkish disco territory, all warped synth strains and mammoth beats. It swiftly grew to become a pulverizing spotlight of their reside units, a return to their early massive beat sound with a contemporary edge.
12. Do It Again (We Are The Night, 2007)
A nimble slice of supremely catchy electro-pop, “Do It Again” noticed Tom and Ed embracing modern R&B and placing a novel spin on it. Vocalist Ali Love sings of the damaging after-effects of hedonism (“All I wanted was a little fun/Got a brain like bubblegum”), however the insistent backing of “do it again” and the unstoppable beat means that he’ll be tempted again to the dancefloor.
11. The Private Psychedelic Reel (Dig Your Own Hole, 1997)
Ending Dig Your Own Hole with the luminescent glory of “The Private Psychedelic Reel” confirmed how far The Chemical Brothers had traveled musically. In just some years they’d advanced from DIY, minimize’n’paste massive beat to this sitar-addled kaleidoscopic masterpiece, that includes Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue’s wonderful clarinet freak out.
10. Out Of Control (Surrender, 1999)
The UK No. 1 dance hit “Out Of Control” featured two indie heroes of Tom and Ed’s youth – Bernard Sumner of Joy Division/New Order and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. It’s among the many hardest-hitting dance songs on The Chemical Brothers’ Surrender, with throbbing, trance-like bass, and machine-tooled beats. But across the four-and-a-half-minute mark, the rhythm drops out and overdriven guitar and digital noise mix for a second of magic earlier than the beat kicks in once more, a short interlude that demonstrates the duo’s instinctive understanding of dynamics.
9. Galvanize (Push The Button, 2005)
The first single from Push The Button (and a UK No. 3 hit) was a common name for motion that includes A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip on vocals. A decade on and the Chemical Brothers had been nonetheless increasing their sound – the instrumental hook of “Galvanize” was a pattern of the snaking string half from “Hadi Kedba Bayna,” a tune by Moroccan singer Najat Aatabou. “Galvanize” was one other instance of The Chemical Brothers’ capacity to create thrilling, party-ready dance music from disparate sources. It additionally gained them a Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2006.
8. Life Is Sweet (Exit Planet Dust, 1995)
The Chemical Brothers’ 1994 remix of The Charlatans’ “Patrol” led to frontman Tim Burgess contributing vocals to this standout from their debut album, Exit Planet Dust. The duo manipulate Burgess’ vocals – including distortion, panning them across the monitor’s sonic panorama, including a way of uneasiness to an already edgy Chemical Brothers tune. It signifies that when Burgess’ singing seems freed from results, he sounds cherubic, including a sentimental dimension to the monitor. It’s an early signal that there was a lot extra to them than packing out golf equipment.
7. Go (Born In The Echoes, 2015)
The Brothers’ second tune to characteristic Q-Tip was one other winner. The spry, drily funky “Go” was taken to a different stage by the rapper’s sensible wordplay and the stadium-sized refrain (“We’re only here to make you go” – as if that was ever doubtful. The tune additionally sparked a reunion between the Chemical Brothers and filmmaker Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind), who directed its usually trendy and surreal music video.
6. Hey Boy Hey Girl (Surrender, 1999)
“Hey Boy Hey Girl” served as a reminder that whereas Surrender discovered the duo experimenting with extra subtle sounds than ever earlier than, they had been nonetheless able to delivering a full-pelt banger. The call-to-the-dancefloor hook (“Superstar DJs, here we go!”) was sampled from “The Roof Is On Fire” by Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three, bringing the early hip-hop traditional to an entire new era.
5. Setting Sun (Dig Your Own Hole, 1997)
The Chemical Brothers had by no means been shy in declaring their love of Beatles songs, recurrently mixing their very own “Chemical Beats” with the groundbreaking Revolver monitor “Tomorrow Never Knows” throughout reside units. When phrase bought out that they’d labored with Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher, the much-anticipated monitor was dubbed “Tomorrow Never Noels” within the press. “Setting Sun” lived as much as expectations. Based on an previous Oasis demo, it was a head-spinningly intense, vivid replace of The Beatles’ experimental masterpiece and a No. 1 single within the UK. Noel would return on Surrender for the dazzling “Let Forever Be,” suggesting a parallel universe during which The Chemical Brothers produced Oasis’ third album and created a psych-rock traditional.
4. Leave Home (Exit Planet Dust, 1995)
The first single launched below the title The Chemical Brothers (reasonably than The Dust Brothers) was an announcement of intent. The repeated pattern of, “The brothers gonna work it out” (from Blake Baxter’s home monitor of the identical title) assures us we’re in secure arms earlier than they unleash the almighty breakbeats and fiendish basslines of “Leave Home.” Nearly three a long time on, its rambunctious power and energy stays undimmed.
3. Block Rockin’ Beats (Dig Your Own Hole, 1997)
The Brothers’ second UK No. 1 single is a distillation of the sound that made their title – these beats had been so massive they might very feasibly rock complete blocks. A pattern from US rapper Schooly D’s 1989 monitor “Gucci Again” offered the tune with its title, whereas the irresistibly funky drum break was sourced from Bernard Purdie’s solo on “Them Changes.” Add copious air raid sirens and a deliciously filthy bassline and voila, “Block Rockin’ Beats.”
2. The Sunshine Underground (Surrender, 1999)
The centerpiece of Surrender begins in beatific vogue, with a looped sitar pattern and ambient synth washes giving option to a loping groove-based part that wouldn’t sound misplaced on The Beta Band’s The Three EPs. The calm is interrupted by the arrival of a pummelling beat, turning this Chemical Brothers tune right into a fantastical, no-holds-barred cosmic rave for the ages.
1. Star Guitar (Come With Us, 2002)
A pure evocation of dancefloor ecstasy, “Star Guitar” is by some means many issues without delay – lush, trance-inducing, and inexplicably shifting. The monitor takes its title from a pattern of the opening acoustic guitar riff from David Bowie’s “Starman,” drenched in phasers and results and near-unrecognizable. Adding to the texture of communal celebration and altered actuality is Beverley Skeete’s repeated vocal of, “You should feel what I feel, you should take what I take.” The tune was given one other dimension with Michel Gondry’s unforgettably trippy music video, an ideal union of tune and visible.
Listen to the perfect Chemical Brothers songs now.